Silhouette

Blogtoberfest Day 13

October 13, 2011 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 6 Comments

Young Crafters Unite challenge #2 and Simon Says Stamp Challenge – Halloween/Goth

Young Crafters Unite posted their second challenge, which is to make an envelope that matches your card. I had a lot of fun with this one because I decided to make the card rely on the envelope in order to make sense.

Said another way, you have to read what’s on the envelope first to complete the card’s meaning. Fun, huh?

I’m also entering this into the Simon Says Stamp Challenge for the their Halloween/Goth week!

It's a matter of perspective, really ...

I used a shape cut a few times with my Silhouette as the base of the card. Then I added the colors with distress inks before stamping the images. I’m not sure if you’ll notice in the photo that the cobwebs have little hints of glitter pen to make them appear more like gossamer.

Your trick is my treat!

I limited the color palette to add to the stark, creepy effect. I also stamped and inked the flip side of the envelope.

I stamped the back of the envelope to complete the look.

There’s still another couple of days to enter the challenge if you like this idea of embellishing your envelope to match your card. I know I’ll be doing it again!

Blogtoberfest Day 12

October 12, 2011 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

Enveloped in love + freebie

Twisted Sketches has revealed its latest sketch, #123, and the twist is “envelope.” Be sure to head over to the site to grab the sketch, then create something and link it up! 🙂

Here’s my Design Team layout inspired by the sketch.

This is Mom, Phil and me in October 1972 in front of our Willoughby, Ohio, home.

Before I begin work on one of the Twisted Sketches assignments I always spend a little time thinking about possible variations on the “twist.” In this case, the twist was “envelope,” so I knew I could use an actual envelope on the page to either house my journaling or just as a decorative element. But as I turned the word over in my mind I thought of the similar word, “envelop.” If I used the past tense of that word I could still satisfy the twist! The title “Enveloped in love” occurred to me soon after. Then I went on a hunt through my photo organizer for the perfect picture to use with it.

I don’t think I could have found a better photo to represent this idea. It’s of my mom, my brother and me in October 1972. We’re out in front of our house in Willoughby, Ohio. Mom’s arms are actually encircling us. She wrote on the back of the original snapshot, “Daddy’s family.” Everything about this photo speaks of love and being enfolded in it. Happy sigh.

There’s one extra little detail about this photo that tickles me (in addition to the 70s clothes and Phil’s glasses). If you squint you can see two little decals on the window behind us. They are a wee witch and jack-o’-lantern, stuck low on the window for our sakes, I imagine. Such a darling detail, don’t you think?

I created a Silhouette cut file to use for my title. If you think you could use this title on a project of your own and you have a Silhouette, I would be happy to email you the file if you send a request to janice at theconstantscrapper dot com.

Blogtoberfest Day 11

October 11, 2011 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

BOOkmark tutorial + freebie

This wee worried monster is quite happy to gobble up your book while he holds your place!

Have you seen any of the fun tutorials for making monster bookmarks—the kind that fit over the corner of the page and look like they’re eating your book? Well, I decided to try my hand at making a few, and in the process I created a Silhouette cut file to use for them. If you like this project and have a Silhouette, I would be happy to email you the file if you send a request to janice at theconstantscrapper dot com.

Here’s how mine turned out. I made one into a little worried monster and the other into a little cross-eyed jack-o’-lantern. I think they’re darling:

Slide these little monsters over the corner of your book and let them nibble while they hold your place.

STEP ONE
Email me a request for the Silhouette cut file. 🙂 Once you cut the pieces, this is what you’ll have:

These are the pieces you'll have when you use the Silhouette file.

STEP TWO
Glue the smaller accent square to the center of the background piece. Then glue the teeth to one of the side triangles.

Glue the accent square to the square portion of the bookmark background.

STEP THREE
Take a close look at the side triangles and determine which is a sliver smaller than the other. I made the cut file this way so that the sides would lay flatter when you fold them in. Fold the smaller triangle down first. Then apply adhesive to the back of the larger side and fold it down; press.

Fold down the smaller triangle side first.

STEP FOUR
Glue the accent triangle piece to the front and decorate!

I made this one into a jack-o'-lantern!

You’ll notice that I didn’t use the accent square on the green monster bookmark. That’s because I wanted to have his mouth look wide open and feature a slithery tongue. These little guys are so easy to make, and there are a ton of ways to make them different and fun. Wouldn’t they be great to make with your children so they can take them to school and give to friends?

If you make any of these I would love to see them. Will you please leave me a comment and let me know where to look? Now book to your supplies and make some monsters!

Blogtoberfest Day 6

October 6, 2011 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

Happy birthday, Daddy

Today is the 78th anniversary of my dear father’s birth. We all miss him so. But today I want to celebrate his birth with a layout that uses a photo from his 65th birthday dinner in 1998.

At that time we were all living in Chapel Hill, NC, so we were able to celebrate together with dinner and cake at a nice local restaurant. We had a lovely time together, and then the waiter took this photo for us. Isn’t it amazing how sometimes that one shot you have taken by a stranger can become so important to you later? This is definitely one of those times.

Happy birthday dear Daddy. Happy birthday to you!

Happy National German-American Day

Today is also National German-American Day. My sweet mother is German-American, and it just so happens that she traveled to Germany for the first time last month! So I am posting a few photos from her wonderful trip as a way of celebrating this day. I will certainly do a layout to commemorate her trip soon and post it here, but I wanted to share a few photos of the old country to mark the day. “Ich liebe dich, Mama!”

Beautiful German countryside

This photo makes me want to climb inside!

Blogtoberfest Day 5

October 5, 2011 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 1 Comment

Mrs. Daquila

Today is World Teachers’ Day, and I want to celebrate the best teacher I’ve ever had—my mom. 🙂

Mom has been a teacher since 1963—before she and Daddy were married in 1965—so countless students have called her “Mrs. Daquila” over the years. In those years she has taught students from four to 80 years of age (because she ran the GED program in our hometown of Willoughby for a time).

Mom just loves teaching. And her students and their parents really love her back. She has always received high praise and thanks from parents, and when she sees past students years later, they always tell her how much her classes meant to them.

Mrs. Daquila is a layout devoted to my mom's long and successful teaching career.

I feel so fortunate to have such a loving first teacher in my life. Thank you, Mom. I love you.

So, have you thought about doing a layout about a favorite teacher of yours?

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